I actually don’t do that. I just thought that it would be a really cool title for this blog. I do, however, have a visor that lessens the glare of headlights and neon lights at night. I don’t like feeling blinded, and the headlights are actually getting brighter with each new invention. So one must do what one must do. I lower the visor and enjoy a much dimmer drive.
So what is this blog actually about? Mental stillness. The cure for mental illness. They say that when we reach REM (rapid eye movement) in our sleep we have reached a state where our brains are very actively dreaming. Mental stillness is something that is not accessed during sleep. Mental stillness is much like having that visor on while driving your dream time vehicle. You see what I did there? I took a totally random paragraph and just wove it into what the blog is actually about! Sometimes I think that my brilliance must have LED!
People often associate meditation with visualization. Those are two very different things. Visualization is using the imaginative part of the brain to create a mental construct for things that we are wanting to manifest in our lives. It is extremely useful at times. But it is NOT meditation.
Meditation is the visor. The goal of meditation is to access the inner stillness and inner silence. It is about emptying out the brain of all the mental clutter (or glare) and allowing oneself to just relax in stillness…emptiness…silence. That act of achievement is so simple to access yet so many people say that they struggle with it, when what they are thinking of when one says “meditation” is actually “visualization”. Some people just cannot visualize things. That is not how their particular brains work. Those are the people who will get the most immediate results from actual meditation. Because with meditation all you need to do is focus your attention on the air as it moves in and out of your body as you breathe. Start with one minute of meditation. Slowly graduate to two minutes, then three and so on.
You do not have to meditate for hours to get the desired results. You simply need to meditate for however long is comfortable for you. Using the breath meditation you can actually meditate while sitting at a red light. Or you can also use it while standing in line at the grocery store. You do not have to turn your physical body into a pretzel in order to be meditating. You can stand, sit, lie down, whatever works for your physical comfort.
But here is the trick. You have to not hold it against yourself if your attention wonders off into some mental tangent. Simply identify the tangent, then bring your attention back to the breath as it moves in and out of your body. Meditation is not a place for self-criticism. It is a place for self-actualization.
As the breath slows down and the mind becomes more focused upon that movement of the breath in and out of the body, the metabolic rate slows down considerably. This leads to deep relaxation. As the body re-educates itself into a relaxed state with a relaxed mind, the body is able to accomplish something miraculous! It actually begins to heal things within itself! There is no effort or visualization that is required for this. It is part of the innate bio-intelligence of the body.
I have often said that with the healing work that I do, what I am doing is “entertaining” the person while inviting their innate energetic intelligence and bio-intelligence to do its job and heal the physical, mental and emotional bodies. Yes, I do have a lot of tools in the bag when it comes to healing practices. But really the only and most important one at any given moment is that of the person who wants the healing. This is why my methods are invitational instead of administrative.
Meditation is the key component for anyone who is on a healing journey. It is a reminder that we have a visor and that we can block out the glare of the world around us and become at peace once again. But how to do that has to do with how we breathe. The Shamanic teachings about this are that we are born and we draw our first breath. When we die we draw our last breath. Everything in between is about continuing to breathe as long as possible. Sometimes we all need to be reminded to breathe. Stress is a factor that can severely affect our breath. When we breathe shallow we add to that stress. It is a vicious circle. This is why it is important to teach ourselves how to breathe in a calm, relaxed and deep way. No shallow breathing allowed, no holding of the breath allowed. Just an awareness of the breath as it moves in and out of our physical temples. Once we learn this, everything becomes much better. We handle the stressors more efficiently. We ground ourselves more efficiently. We liberate ourselves from the chaos of the world around us more efficiently.
It is not that we have to remove ourselves from the world around us in order to find peace and enlightenment. Frankly, anyone can achieve that if they are in a temple on a mountain top and away from the rest of the world. But the rest of us have to actually function in this world and make contributions to it. So that is where the breath becomes essential.
I invite you to begin your meditation discipline today. As forementioned, just start with one minute. Over time add on a little more time. Do it every day. Do it a few times a day if you like. Do what is best for you. Work with your schedule but DO incorporate it. Don’t put off your own well-being for the benefit of another, no matter who that is. You cannot be there for them fully anyway if you are not there for yourself and keeping yourself healthy and clear.
Enjoy the journey!